I am the webmaster of the Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website, www.armed-guard.com. I do not know or remember Dale Beaman but I have found information about him that you may find interesting. In my sources I found a man variously listed as Dale Beaman, Dale R. Beaman, and Dale Robert Beaman, on three voyages aboard three ships in 1944-1945, while he was in the U.S. merchant marine. The information about the three voyages is as follows:
SS FLYING YANKEE, departed San Francisco on or about June 20, 1944, destination Milne Bay, New Guinea, arrived San Francisco August 17, 1944. Dale Beaman was described as age 16, 5’8”, 130 lbs. His position was that of wiper, an entry-level position in the engine crew. This was the ship’s maiden voyage as well as Dale Beaman’s first voyage. Note that at this point in World War II, the merchant marine (but not the uniformed military services) accepted volunteers as young as 16.
SS PENNANT, departed San Francisco on or about November 9, 1944, destination Finschhafen, New Guinea, arrived San Francisco January 20, 1945. His position was that of wiper.
SS WATSON C. SQUIRE; departed San Francisco on or about February 9, 1945, destination Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, and Manila, Philippines. The ship arrived San Francisco September 15, 1945, after the war ended, but without Dale Beaman aboard. He was one of three crew members sent to a hospital in Hollandia, New Guinea, in June 1945, no explanation given. He was apparently still in the hospital when the ship departed. The record contains no indication of when and how he returned to the U.S. His position was that of fireman/watertender, a more senior engine room position, responsible for starting and keeping the fires going in the boilers and monitoring the water levels in the boilers.
Here is information about the three ships that I found in which he served while in the merchant marine; all three ships survived the war.
FLYING YANKEE was a class C2-S-B1 cargo ship, built by the Moore Dry Dock Company, Oakland, California, completed June 8, 1944. She was sold into private service in 1947 and renamed MARGARET LYKES. She was scrapped 1973. See http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/moore.htm and scroll to hull no. 270.
PENNANT was originally named GRETA MAERSK, a Danish-flagged ship, built in Germany in 1937. She was one of about 100 foreign-flagged ships in U.S. ports at the beginning of World War II, requisitioned by the U.S. government for the war effort. She was renamed CRICAMOLA, then renamed again PENNANT. Many of her officers and senior crew members were Danish nationals who remained with the ship throughout the war. She served as troopship. See photographs at http://7seasvessels.com/grete-maersk-1937-imo-0000000/, https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/303186/ and https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/303777/.
WATSON C. SQUIRE was a Liberty ship, one of about 2,700 Liberty ships built before, during and immediately after World War II, the largest single class of ships ever built. She was constructed by the Oregon Shipbuilding Company, Portland, Oregon, in just 26 days between September 27 and October 23, 1943. She was scrapped in Oakland, California, in 1961. See http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencylarge/wwtwo/koregon.htm and scroll to hull no. 783. The ship was named after Watson C. Squire (1838-1926), Governor of Washington Territory I884-1887, U.S. Senator from Washington 1889-1897.
I found Dale Beaman’s obituary (12 November 12, 1927 – January 27, 2004) and noted that he also served in the U.S. Navy post-war. Presumably it was during this period that he was involved with Operation Crossroads in Bikini, Marshall Islands. I do not have information about his Navy service.
If you are interested you may be able to obtain Dale Beaman’s complete service record, both for his merchant marine service and his U.S. Navy service. See this web page from the website I manage: http://armed-guard.com/searchmil.html. In particular see section A.1. Records of Individuals – U.S. Military, and section A.2. Records of Individuals – Merchant Marine. For his naval service you will have to contact the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO, a facility operated by the U.S. Archives. The links on the web page noted above will take you to the necessary pages of the Records Center web site.
For his merchant marine service you will have to contact the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Maritime Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The Coast Guard was and is responsible for issuing certain documents ("seaman's papers") and officers’ licenses to U.S. merchant mariners, so they may have information about Dale Beaman.
In both cases, whether for the U.S. Archives’ National Personnel Records Center or the Coast Guard’s National Maritime Center, you will have to provide as much identifying information as possible about Dale Beaman. His records would likely include information on training, the ships to which he was assigned, rank or rating, any serious injuries or illnesses, applicable dates, medals or decorations awarded, etc. Also in both cases there will be a fee for this service but I expect the staffs at the two Centers would not begin work without informing you of any charges.
I cannot tell from your message whether you are next of kin to Dale Beaman (next of kin = parent, spouse, sibling, child). If you are not next of kin you may not be able to obtain Dale Beaman’s complete service records. If you are not, are there any family members who are next of kin, presumably one of his children? If there is someone available who is next of kin, that person should be the one to sign any documents requesting records, so as to obtain the complete service records. You can do the legwork of researching the process, obtaining information, preparing documents, etc. but the person who is next of kin should sign. If there is nobody available who is next of kin, make the request yourself and hope for the best.
I hope this information is useful.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com
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